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The 52: Qualify Your Prospects Before Scheduling Meetings
Week 21: Stop wasting time on unqualified prospects.
Week 21
Qualify Your Prospects Before Scheduling Meetings
Meeting with unqualified prospects can be a huge time suck. To avoid this, screen your prospects to see if there is an initial fit before scheduling a formal hour-plus meeting. Here are some ways to do this:
Embed a qualifying questionnaire to your calendaring software or web form.
Make the first step be an initial 15-minute phone call to ask qualifying questions.
Have the receptionist/admin/junior advisor gather information using a qualifying questionnaire for prospects who call in.
If you determine someone is not a good fit, point them in the direction of someone who can better take care of their needs.
Interested in learning more about this topic? Join the conversation today at 11 a.m. PT on Clubhouse.
The 52: Make Client Events Social in 2021
Week 20: Have you started thinking about client events again?
Week 20
Make Client Events Social in 2021
As more states reduce COVID-19 restrictions, in-person client events will likely be an option again in the near future. But before you start your monthly “Lunch & Learns” back up, rethink your event strategy. I predict that after being cooped up for the last year, clients will be looking for social connection and entertainment (instead of education) when they decide on which events to attend. So plan your 2021 in-person client events to be fun and engaging, and keep your educational events online. And just to be safe, plan your in-person events to be outdoors as well!
The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Paid Ads
Week 18: Boost your local SEO strategy with paid ads.
Week 18
Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Paid Ads
The final area of the five components of a local SEO strategy is paid ads. While not technically considered local SEO, paid ads are one more way to show up on the first page of search results, which is why I include them as part of an overall SEO strategy.
There are two possible options for advertising on search results:
Paid Search Ads are the pay-per-click ads that look like organic search results and are found at the top and bottom of the page but are labeled “Ad.”
Local Services Ads are Google’s new pay-per-lead ads available in some geographic markets that are prominently displayed at the very top of the page.
Even if paid ads are not part of your long-term strategy, they can provide a quick way to help you appear in search results while your other local SEO efforts come to fruition.
P.S. Interested in learning more on this subject? Join me on June 3 at 11:30 a.m. PDT at the FPA NorCal Virtual Conference for my session, “Local SEO: How to Optimize Your Online Presence to Attract Local Prospects.”
The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Organic Rankings
Week 17: Optimize the content on your company’s website.
Week 17
Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Organic Rankings
The fourth area of the five components of a local SEO strategy is organic rankings. This is when a search engine like Google ranks your website on search results. When people say, “I want to be on the first page of Google,” this is the strategy they are talking about.
Optimizing your website for organic SEO is a complex topic, but in short, you need to:
Conduct keyword research to discover which local words people are using to find a service like yours
Optimize one webpage on your site for each of your keywords
Establish backlinks by having other websites link their content (e.g., articles, press releases) back to your site
There are other technical aspects as well that you should discuss with a web developer to implement.
P.S. Our next Niche Starter Kit starts next Friday! Take the next steps here.
The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Review Sites
Week 16: Claim and enhance your review site profiles.
Week 16
Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Review Sites
The third area of the five components of a local SEO strategy is review sites such as Yelp or Google My Business. While review sites have traditionally been dangerous territory for advisors, starting May 4, new SEC marketing rules will allow for advisors to solicit and promote reviews with some restrictions.
Similar to advisor listings, review sites frequently show up on the first page of search results for popular search terms. Google also uses reviews to confirm you are a local business, and reviews improve your chances of ranking in the local pack. To get started, focus your efforts on a few review sites as recommended back in Week 7.
P.S. Our next Niche Starter Kit begins in two weeks! Take the next steps here.
The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Advisor Listings
Week 15: Add your company to advisor listings.
Week 15
Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Advisor Listings
The second area of the five components of a local SEO strategy is advisor listings. These are the “find an advisor” sites that help connect consumers with financial advisors. These websites can be pay-per-lead sites like SmartAsset.com, professional association sites like FPA’s PlannerSearch, or paid listing sites like FeeOnlyNetwork.com.
Many advisor listing sites spend significant time and money on their local SEO strategy to appear on the first page of Google results ahead of local financial advisory firms. While not all these sites are going to be worth the cost, having a profile on sites that appear on the first page of Google results can lead to an increase in web leads.
P.S. Join Kristen Luke (@kristennluke) and Kristin Harad (@kristinharad) on Clubhouse this Thursday, April 15, 2021 at 1 p.m. PDT to discuss how to use videos in your marketing.
The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Local Pack
Week 14: How to show up in Google’s Local Pack.
Week 14
Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Local Pack
The first area of the five components of a local SEO strategy we discussed last week is the Local Pack. This comprises the three businesses that show up in the map portion at the top of Google search results. To improve your chances of being listed there, here are three non-technical steps you can take:
Complete your Google My Business profile as much as possible, including photos.
Make sure your name, address, and phone number are consistent across the internet using a service like Yext so Google can verify your location.
Get client reviews on Google My Business (RIAs will be able to do this after May 4).
P.S. Does this seem like a lot? Did you know that if you adopted a niche-focused expertise approach, you wouldn’t have to worry about keeping up with the latest local SEO tricks?
The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy
Week 13: How to show up on the first page of a Google search.
Week 13
Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy
If you want to rank on the first page of Google in your area when a prospect searches for “financial advisor near me,” then you need to do more than just have the right keywords on your website. You will need to address five areas to optimize your local search engine optimization (SEO) presence:
Local pack (e.g., Google My Business)
Advisor listings (e.g., NAPFA.org, FeeOnlyNetwork.com)
Review sites (e.g., Google My Business, Yelp)
Organic rankings (e.g., website optimization)
Paid ads (e.g., Google search ads, local service listing ads)
Over the next several weeks, we’ll cover these areas in our weekly tips. Until then, download this week’s infographic on this topic.
The 52: Name Your Services Specifically for Your Niche
Week 12: Are your services niche-friendly?
Week 12
Name Your Services Specifically for Your Niche
When listing your services on a website or brochure, think about naming them in a way that speaks the language of your niche. For example, if your niche is multi-generational families who want to protect and transfer wealth to their heirs, you may want to change “estate planning” to “family legacy planning.” Using the language of your niche will communicate that you designed your service specifically for them.
P.S. The deadline to sign up for the next Niche Starter Kit is Thursday!
The 52: Don’t Settle for Generic Messaging
Week 11: Don’t sound like everyone else.
Week 11
Don’t Settle for Generic Messaging
When we work with firms to launch into a niche market, we often see them drawn to a generic message that could apply to almost any type of client. To capture the attention of your niche, every aspect of your message should relate to the specific issues that client faces. For example:
Generic message: We help sales executives with the unique financial issues they face to bring them peace of mind.
Targeted message: We provide sales executives with the financial strategies that break the cycle of the feast-or-famine lifestyle.
When developing your message, ask yourself, "Does this uniquely resonate with my niche?" If not, keep working at it until it does.
P.S. Struggling with messaging for your niche? Join our next Niche Starter Kit on March 26.
